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Bushman-YA Lit PDF
Bushman-YA Lit PDF
Much has been written in the past few years about the importance of meeting the reading needs, interests,
and abilities of young people in middle and senior high schools. Accompanying such writing has been the
suggestion that young adult literature is suitable for the classroom and, indeed, would serve the students
well in meeting these needs. Many writers including John H. Bushman and Kay P Bushman (1993, 1997),
Alleen Pace Nilsen and Kenneth L. Donelson (1993), Rebecca Lukens and Ruth K. J. Cline (1995), Arthea J.
S. Reed (1994), and Jean Brown and Elaine Stephens (1995) have argued well that in order to help young
adults through the difficult time of being adolescents, teachers must provide literature that speaks to the
issues facing our students: problems in their physical, intellectual, moral, and reading development. It
would seem that the classical literature (the canon) of which most, if not all, was written for the educated
adult community, does not provide the answers that young people are seeking.
What are the special needs and expectations of adolescents? What are the major developmental tasks that
confront teenagers? Erik Erikson (1984) suggests that the major task of adolescence is the formulation, or
reformulation, of personal identity. Middle and high school students are primarily engaged in the task of
answering the question, Who am I? James Marcia (1980) describes a series of stages or classifications of
identity that could be adopted by teens as they grow into adulthood. Robert Havighurst (1972) outlines
developmental tasks for healthy individuals that include a series of tasks that confront adolescents. In his
view, the principal needs of adolescence are emotional and social development, rather than intellectual
growth. But what is the school experience? Not much attention is given to emotional and social development,
but a great deal of attention is given to intellectual development. And what literature is assigned for students
to read in the classroom: usually the classics or at least that literature found in the anthology.
The major question that teachers should address is: Do Romeo and Juliet, Great Expectations, Julius
Caesar, A Tale of Two Cities, The Odyssey, The Red Badge of Courage, The Iliad, Antigone, Oedipus Rex,
The Old Man and the Sea and many others found in the English curriculum meet the needs, interests, and
abilities of young people in middle and high schools? Do these works help with the emotional and social
development of young people? All who believe that age-appropriate literature is the major criterion for
John H. Bushman
Young Adult Literature in the Classroom--Or Is It?
2 The Choices We Offer: Canon Formation
choosing literature for young people would argue that these works are more suitable for adults than
adolescents. Those who argue for the importance of cultural and literary heritage may believe that these
works are indeed appropriate for junior and senior students in college-bound or honors English classes. The
interesting point here is that these works just mentioned are frequently assigned to eighth- and ninth-grade
students!
READING QUESTIONNAIRE
During the past spring, I sent a questionnaire to students in grades six through twelve requesting
information about their reading and literature experiences in and out of school. It was a small, non-random
samplingonly 380 students surveyed, but it did give a range across all seven grades and represented a
variety of school sizes and locations. I wanted to secure information regarding the literature that was
assigned to students for in-class reading. In addition, I also asked what literature students read for book
reports, what literature students read for pleasure outside of the school, and if students read the works
assigned or if they used Cliffs Notes, some other published study guide, or teacher study guides or packets.
Finally, I asked students what kinds of books they like to read, if they had favorite authors and who they
were, and what was their alltime favorite book.
Most students in this survey believe that they read the works assigned to them; they did not use published
study guides such as Cliffs Notes (two students in the survey indicated that if they had used Cliffs Notes, their
teachers would have killed them); however, most, with few exceptions, did use a teacher-generated study
guide to use along with the reading of the literature. While most students said that they enjoyed some of the
books, they in no way gave total approval to all the books assigned. When asked about classroom procedure
in working with the literature, about half of the students said that they discussed the books while slightly less
than half said that they listened to the teacher talk about the books. The others said that both procedures
occurred in the classroom. More interesting are the results showing what books were assigned and what
books were read for book reports and for outside-of-school reading by grade level.
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Young Adult Literature in the Classroom--Or Is It?
The Choices We Offer: Canon Formation 3
Outside Reading
Choices made for outside reading, i.e., reading for pleasure not connected with the classroom, were very
consistent with reading for the classroom. Both sixth- and seventh-grade students selected from the young
adult literature genre. Favorite authors cited were R. L. Stine, Lois Duncan, Christopher Pike, Jane Yolen,
Bruce Coville, S. E. Hinton, Anne McCaffrey, Sharon Creech, L. M. Montgomery, Louisa May Alcott, Madeleine
LEngle, Gary Paulsen, and Michael Crichton.
The most frequently named assigned books by eighth graders were Julius Caesar and Diary of Anne Frank.
Next in frequency were Call of the Wild, Romeo and Juliet, Ulysses, Great Expectations, and Count of
Monte Cristo. Other classics mentioned included To Kill A Mockingbird, The Pearl, 1984, A Tale of Two
Cities, The Iliad and Red Badge of Courage. Of the 48 books students cited, six were young adult, and each
was mentioned once. They include: My Brother Sam Is Dead, The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, Ace
Hits Big -Time, Harry and Hortense at Hormone High, The Giver, and M. C. Higgins, the Great. Of the 34
eighth graders who responded, 27 indicated that they did not use Cliffs Notes for help in the reading;
however, seven did indicate their use of that source. Interestingly, 22 indicated that they used a teacher-
generated study guide.
Did these students enjoy what they were reading? Surprisingly, sixteen said that they did, four said they did
not enjoy any of the books assigned, and ten indicated that they enjoyed some, but not all. I found one
students comment interesting:
John H. Bushman
Young Adult Literature in the Classroom--Or Is It?
4 The Choices We Offer: Canon Formation
I found these works a bit boring. When I read something assigned to me for class, I miss out on the
enjoyment of the novel when reading for pleasure. These works were written to where it is hard to
understand what they are really trying to say.
One comment perhaps said more about the literature and the curriculum than about the students
understanding:
Yes, [I enjoyed the book] but they were also in some ways hard to understand, especially Julius Caesar
because we read the Shakespeare version.
Not all comments were negative about the literature. One student thought it was very beneficial to read these
works:
Yes, I enjoyed the books that were assigned to my class. I felt that reading Shakespeare was important
because we discussed it, and it developed our reading comprehension and analytical skills.
As I read through these surveys, especially after reading about the Julius Caesar item above, I wondered if
what the students were reading were the watered down versions of these classics found in their
anthologies. What a shame that teachers force students to read a simplified version of a work in order for
them to understand it when the original of wonderful age-appropriate young adult novel is ignored. Most of
the time, these versions are so simplified that readers will never recognize the work when they are older
and confront the work again.
Outside Reading
Inconsistency is strong between what was assigned for classroom use-both classroom reading and book
report literature and the literature that the students chose to read for out-of-school reading. Students
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Young Adult Literature in the Classroom--Or Is It?
The Choices We Offer: Canon Formation 5
selected the following books for their pleasure reading: The Hiding Place, April Morning, Drivers Ed,
Miracle Worker, Old Yeller, The Man Who Loved Clowns, The Catcher in the Rye, True Confessions of
Charlotte Doyle, Harry and Hortense at Hormone High, Call Waiting, The Shining, Rebecca, Blitzcat, M.
C. Higgins, the Great, Congo, Skin Deep, Dont Look Behind You, Nothing But the Truth, The Outsiders, Go
Ask Alice, The Firm The Chamber, The Thornbirds, and others.
It seems apparent to me that the literature that is read in the classroom by these eighth graders meets the
teachers or schools goal of disseminating knowledge about classic literature and using that literature to
teach literary and cultural heritage. Based on comments made by students, I believe that they think this
literature is what is best for them. However, when they have a choice of what to read out of the classroom,
students choose more age-appropriate literature.
John H. Bushman
Young Adult Literature in the Classroom--Or Is It?
6 The Choices We Offer: Canon Formation
DECREASE IN READING
In addition to being quite surprised by the kinds of literature students in grades nine through twelve were
reading, I was shocked to find the number of books read decreased as the students moved from freshman to
senior year. The number of book report reading was down as was the number of books read for pleasure
outside of the school. One student wrote when asked to list books read outside of school:
None. No extra time to read. Either had to work or do homework til real late. I dont have time to enjoy
reading. I just get it done in school.
The group of seniors who responded seems to fall into two camps: those who really like to read-mostly
science fiction as their pleasure reading-and those who do not read.
It seems to me that throughout the school experience, teachers have as their goal to present a knowledge-
based curriculum, and when they have finished presenting that curriculum, students stop reading. Teachers
dont seem to care if students continue to read or not. They have done what is expected of them (pass along
a cultural/literary heritage), and making young people lifelong readers is not a part of the plan.
Nonreading seems to be consistent with what others have found. An article in the Wichita Eagle (Kansas)
newspaper entitled Kids Closing the Book on Reading for Fun (1995) states: The anecdotal information
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Young Adult Literature in the Classroom--Or Is It?
The Choices We Offer: Canon Formation 7
from teachers and librarians indicates that children, especially middle school and high school students,
dont read as much as their parents did (16A). Statistics from the 1993 National Adult Literacy Survey show
that students are not carrying the reading habit into adulthood. The survey scored nearly half of all American
readers in the lower two of five reading levels (National Center for Education Studies 1993). Others note a
decline in the amount of books read by Americans under the age of 21 (Cullinan 1987). Consequently,
Bernice Cullinan notes a new term, alliterate, had been established and describes a person who can read and
write but chooses not to use those skills very often. in trying to break this cycle of alliteracy, educators may
need to look beyond the works of Shakespeare and Chaucer.
Perhaps what is best for students in the contemporary classroom can best be described by Joan Cone (1994).
While searching for the creative ideas that could spark her students interest to read a novel by Dickens,
Cone said a friend helped her come to a decision:
One Saturday evening in mid-November, during a conversation about teaching, a friend of mine-a computer
genius and Tom Clancy fan said to me, Youre having your kids read the wrong books. Theyre never going
to read Dickens when they get out of school. You need to introduce them to authors they will read. (450)
It seems that schools have accomplished just the opposite of what they intend to do: they have turned
students off from reading rather than making them lifelong readers. Schools have failed to choose literature
that enables students to become emotionally and cognitively involved in what they read. If students are asked
to read literature that is not consistent with their developmental levels, they will not be able to interact fully
with that literature. As a result, students who do not interact with the literature are left with learning only
about literature-information that works well on the television program jeopardy, but that does not help
students connect the text with their goals, level of development, and experience.
John H. Bushman
Young Adult Literature in the Classroom--Or Is It?
8 The Choices We Offer: Canon Formation
Young people often struggle with proper masculine or feminine roles. Out of Control (Norma Fox Mazer)
speaks well to that issue. This book is one of the first, if not the first, to address the issue of sexual
harassment. This issue is also addressed in We All Fall Down.
In addition, another task so very important to middle and senior high school students is the struggle for that
personal ideology or value system that confronts the adolescent almost every day. Students just cannot read
about this issue when asked to limit their reading to the classics. Great Expectations, The Iliad, and most of
the other classics just dont allow for those connections that students twelve to seventeen years old need for
their development. However, Crazy Lady (Jane Leslie Conly) at the middle level works well; at the secondary
level Lois Rubys Skin Deep explores the peer pressure associated with the skinhead movement, Chris
Crutchers Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes involves students with issues that they may face in their own lives,
and David Klass Danger Zone helps students discover their attitudes toward prejudice, racism, and politics.
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Young Adult Literature in the Classroom--Or Is It?
The Choices We Offer: Canon Formation 9
No Pigs Would Die and its sequel A Part of the Sky (Robert Newton Peck), The Outsiders (S. E. Hinton), and
A Bridge to Terabithia (Katherine Paterson),
Young adults experience this moral development of characters as they read other literature as well. They see
the growth that takes place with Adam and Miriam in Miriams Well (Lois Ruby), with Tia and Brian in All
That Glitters (Jean Ferris), with Mark and Randy in Between a Rock and a Hard Place (Alden Carter), with
Jimmy in Somewhere in the Darkness (Walter Dean Myers), with Freddie in The Original Freddie
Ackerman (Hadley Irwin), with Bert in If Rock and Roll Were a Machine (Terry Davis), with Marie in I
Hadnt Meant to Tell You This (Jacqueline Woodson) and with Carla in The Drowning of Stephan Jones
(Bette Greene).
CONCLUSION
Why are these novels more appropriate for the young adult reader? An adolescent can better relate to the
characters and plot of YA novels. A youthful protagonist with an adolescent point of view helps students make
connections. The characters are highly independent. They may not seem realistic to adults, but they are very
realistic to the young adults. They offer hope to the young readerhpe that things can change, improve,
succeed. They give hope to be able to cope with all that seems wrong with being a young adult. They see
these novels showing responsibility; i.e., the young adults have to deal with the consequences of their own
decisions. And perhaps the best reason for using young adult novels is that they keep young people reading.
Teachers need to change the direction that high school students are taking: they must turn kids on to
reading, instead of turning them off. The stability and future of our culture depend on it.
Works Cited
Applebee, A. 1994. Shaping Conversations: A Study of Continuity and Coherence on High School Literacy
Curricula. Albany, NY: National Research Center on Literature Teaching and Learning.
Brown, J. E. and E. C. Stephens. 1995. Teaching Young Adult Literature: Sharing the Connections.
Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing.
Bushman, J. H. and K. P. Bushman. 1993. Using Young Adult Literature in the English Classroom.
Columbus, OH: Prentice Hall, Merrill Education.
. 1997. Using Young Adult Literature in the English Classroom, Second edition. Columbus, OH:
Prentice Hall, Merrill Education.
Cone, J. 1994. Appearing Acts: Creating Readers in a High School English Class. Harvard Educational
Review 64: 450-473.
Cullinan, B. 1987. Inviting Readers to Literature. B. Cullinan, ed. Childrens Literature in the Reading
Program. Newark, DE: International Reading Association. 2-13.
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Young Adult Literature in the Classroom--Or Is It?
10 The Choices We Offer: Canon Formation
Erikson, E. H., ed. 1963. The Challenge of Youth. Garden City, NY: Anchor Books.
Havighurst, R. 1972. Developmental Tasks and Education. New York: David McKay
Kids Closing the Book on Reading for Fun. 1995. Wichita Eagle (Sept. 24): 16A.
Kohlberg, L. 1984. Essays in Moral Development. Vol. 11: The Psychology of Moral Development. San
Francisco: Harper and Row
Lukens, R. J. and K. J. Cline. 1995. A Critical Handbook of Literature for Young Adults. New York:
HarperCollins.
Marcia, J. 1980, Identity in Adolescence. J. Adelson, ed. Handbook of Adolescents Psychology. New York:
John Wiley and Sons. 98-112.
National Center for Education Studies. 1993. Adult Literacy in America. Washington, DC: Government
Printing Office.
Nilsen, A. P. and K. L. Donelson. 1993. Literature for Todays Young Adults. Fourth edition. New York:
HarperCollins.
Reed, A. J. S. 1994. Reaching Adolescents: The Young Adult Book and the School. New York: Macmillan.
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Young Adult Literature in the Classroom--Or Is It?